ELECTRONIC CONNECTOR
A connector comprises a housing defining a terminal accommodating portion a supporting block. The connector further includes a pair of terminal assemblies mounted in the terminal accommodating portion and arranged to be spaced apart from each other. Each terminal assembly of the pair of terminal assemblies has a plate-shaped fixing portion extending in a first direction, and a terminal portion extending from the plate-shaped fixing portion in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each terminal assembly further includes an elastic supporting arm extending from a lower end of the terminal portion adjacent to the plate-shaped fixing portion in a direction inclined to both the first direction and the second direction. The elastic supporting arms of the pair of terminal assemblies abutted against the supporting block.
Latest Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Patents:
This application claims the priority benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 202111018654.3 filed on Aug. 31, 2021 in the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present disclosure relates to electrical connectors, and more specifically, to an electrical connector for a bus bar.
BACKGROUNDThere are misalignment mating and tilting mating issues in mating conditions between a power supply unit (PSU) or battery backup unit (BBU) and a power shelf bus bar of an existing data center. In order to achieve a low insertion force requirement of an existing power connector in the conventional alignment mating condition, an elastic terminal of the connector is usually designed to have a smaller elasticity value to meet the low insertion force requirement. In practice, a risk of contact is inevitable (for example, one side of the elastic terminal is subjected to a larger force, while the other side of the elastic terminal is subjected to a smaller force, or even no contact) when the existing power connectors are in misalignment, and the risk of contact will inevitably exist especially in the extreme misalignment mating condition, which will affect the product performance of the connector (for example, insertion force, contact resistance, current capability), resulting in high contact resistance and unstable contact resistance of the connector, which reduces the current carrying capability of the connector in misalignment mating condition.
SUMMARYAccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a connector comprises a housing defining a terminal accommodating portion and a supporting block. The connector further includes a pair of terminal assemblies mounted in the terminal accommodating portion and arranged to be spaced apart from each other. Each terminal assembly of the pair of terminal assemblies has a plate-shaped fixing portion extending in a first direction, and a terminal portion extending from the plate-shaped fixing portion in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each terminal assembly further includes an elastic supporting arm extending from a lower end of the terminal portion adjacent to the plate-shaped fixing portion in a direction inclined to both the first direction and the second direction. The elastic supporting arms of the pair of terminal assemblies abutted against the supporting block.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
According to one general technical concept of the present disclosure, there is provided a connector including a housing and a pair of terminal assemblies. Each terminal assembly of the pair of terminal assemblies has a plate-shaped fixing portion extending in a first direction, a terminal portion extending from the plate-shaped fixing portion in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and an elastic supporting arm extending from a lower end of the terminal portion adjacent to the plate-shaped fixing portion in a direction inclined to the first direction and the second direction. The pair of terminal assemblies are mounted in the terminal accommodating portion of the housing and arranged to be spaced apart from each other. A supporting block is formed in the housing, and the elastic supporting arms of the pair of terminal assemblies are abutted against the corresponding supporting block, respectively.
In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, as shown in
It should be noted that, according to the connector of the present disclosure, based on practical requirements, the supporting structure between the elastic supporting arm and the supporting block as described above may be designed to provide support for the terminal assembly only in the misalignment mating condition, and may also be designed to provide support for the terminal assembly either in the conventional alignment mating condition or in extreme misalignment mating condition.
Specifically, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, as shown in
Specifically, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, as shown in
Optionally,
Specifically, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, as shown in
According to the connector of the present invention, as shown in
In this way, according to the connector of the present disclosure, the plate-shaped fixing portion 210 of the pair of terminal assemblies 200 is configured to be electrically connected to the bottom bus bar 20 in a fastening manner, whereas the terminal portion 220 is configured to be electrically connected the mating bus 10 in a plug-in manner, as a result, low insertion force and easy insertion, lower and more stable contact resistance, and higher current carrying capacity at the same time with reliable contact are achieved whether the plug-in mating between the mating bus bar 10 and the terminal portion 220 is in conventional alignment mating condition or in extreme misalignment mating condition.
Specifically, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In addition, those areas in which it is believed that those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar, have not been described herein in order not to unnecessarily obscure the invention described. Accordingly, it has to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.
It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.
Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of the elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.
Claims
1. A connector comprising:
- a housing defining a terminal accommodating portion and a supporting block; and
- a pair of terminal assemblies mounted in the terminal accommodating portion and arranged spaced apart from each other, each terminal assembly of the pair of terminal assemblies having: a plate-shaped fixing portion extending in a first direction; a terminal portion extending from the plate-shaped fixing portion in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and an elastic supporting arm extending from a lower end of the terminal portion adjacent to the plate-shaped fixing portion in a direction inclined to both the first direction and the second direction, the elastic supporting arms of the pair of terminal assemblies abutted against the supporting block.
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein in each terminal assembly, the elastic supporting arm is formed on two opposite outermost sides of the plate-shaped fixing portion in a third direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction.
3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein in each terminal assembly, the elastic supporting arm extends from the terminal portion at a connection between the terminal portion and the plate-shaped fixing portion.
4. The connector according to claim 1, wherein in each terminal assembly, the elastic supporting arm extends from the terminal portion at a non-zero distance from the connection between the terminal portion and the plate-shaped fixing portion.
5. The connector according to claim 1, wherein in each terminal assembly, the terminal portion further includes a waist portion formed at a middle and lower portion of the terminal portion, the waist portion extending outward from two opposite outermost sides of the terminal portion in a third direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction, respectively.
6. The connector according to claim 5, wherein the terminal accommodating portion of the housing defines a receiving groove receiving the waist portion.
7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein a width of the receiving groove in the first direction is greater than a thickness of the waist portion in the first direction.
8. The connector according to claim 6, wherein a gap is defined between the waist portion and the receiving groove in the first direction, the gap is located on a side of one terminal assembly to which the waist portion belongs away from the other terminal assembly.
9. The connector according to claim 5, wherein the plate-shaped fixing portion, the terminal portion, the elastic supporting arm and the waist portion are integrally formed.
10. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the plate-shaped fixing portion is electrically connected to a bottom bus bar via a fastener, and the terminal portion is electrically connected to a bus bar received therebetween.
11. A connector comprising:
- a housing defining a terminal accommodation space;
- first and second terminal assemblies mounted in the terminal accommodation space and positioned to accept a bus bar inserted therebetween, each terminal assembly including: a terminal connecting portion adapted to electrically connect to the bus bar; and an elastic supporting arm extending obliquely from the terminal connecting portion and supported by the housing
12. The connector of claim 11, wherein each terminal assembly further comprises a plate-shaped fixing portion extending in a first direction, the terminal connecting portion extending from the plate-shaped fixing portion in a second direction distinct from the first direction, and the elastic supporting arm extending from a lower end of the terminal connecting portion adjacent to the plate-shaped fixing portion in a direction inclined to both the first direction and the second direction.
13. The connector according to claim 11, wherein the housing further defines a supporting block supporting the elastic supporting arms of the pair of terminal assemblies.
14. The connector according to claim 11, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.
15. The connector according to claim 11, wherein the elastic supporting arm is formed on two opposite outermost sides of the plate-shaped fixing portion.
16. The connector according to claim 15, wherein the elastic supporting arm is formed in a third direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction.
17. The connector according to claim 11, wherein the terminal portion further includes a waist portion formed at a middle portion of the terminal portion and extending outward from two opposite outermost sides of the terminal portion in a third direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction, respectively.
18. The connector according to claim 17, wherein the terminal accommodation space of the housing defines a receiving groove receiving the waist portion.
19. The connector according to claim 18, wherein a gap is defined between the waist portion and the receiving groove in the first direction.
20. The connector according to claim 17, wherein a width of the receiving groove in the first direction is greater than a thickness of the waist portion in the first direction.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 31, 2022
Publication Date: Mar 2, 2023
Applicants: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (Shanghai), TE Connectivity Germany GmbH (Bensheim)
Inventors: Jiaoyong (Mac) Liu (Shanghai), Hongqiang (Sean) Han (Shanghai), Jie (Roger) Luo (Shunde), Frank Keutz (Bensheim)
Application Number: 17/900,156